Mega Man X: The Grand Maverick Remix Battle 2012

[DarkeSword]

oh goddamnit

i'm going to upload jnwake's mix now

[jnWake]

oh goddamnit

i'm going to upload jnwake's mix now

Thanks

Guess Friday isn't a good day for sending PMs

[DarkeSword]

ZIP is updated. Please redownload, everyone.

[DarkeSword]

voting thread is up too. make sure you all vote on that one too if you already voted for everything else.

[Zerothemaster]

o fagballs i lost crapsticks

there i fixed my first post

[Bahamut]

Alright, here are my thoughts on the tracks this round!

Yami - Air Cooled Magma Flow (Magma Dragoon vs. Storm Owl)

Volume is on the low side - that lead mid-low synth sounds weird - feels like it needs some more treatment. When the Magma Dragoon synth comes in, it stands out. Honestly, it seems like this is a rough rough draft overall, so it's hard to really comment on it.

Ivan Hakstok - Infrared Ultrasonic (Storm Owl vs. Magma Dragoon)

Guitars sound a little rough here - could use a better take for the lead. Fattening up the sound with a wall with two guitar tracks for each one, panned hard to the left & right each, would help give them more power. Track is also rough overall.

Zerothemaster - So Now Satan's Hiring Sponges as Demons What's Next Buckets (Infinity Mijinion vs. Wire Sponge)

I remember Zerothemaster's first entry into the compo series - this is quite better, so great work keeping at it! Try to add more instrumentation to the songs you work on, especially to help capture the range of frequencies - it helps keeps the listener engage/hook them earlier with the amount of activity going on, and it can expand what you can do with the arrangement you come up with/give you more ideas for ammunition.

jnWake - Forever a Sponge (Wire Sponge vs. Infinity Mijinion)

Theory of N - Sting Chameleon Takes a Bubble Bath (Sting Chameleon vs. Bubble Crab)

Nice and funky here!

ectogemia - Nightmare Machinus (Bubble Crab vs. Sting Chameleon)

Very strange/unorthodox arrangement, I like it!

Trism - Reborn (Spike Rosered vs. Toxic Seahorse)

Quite an interesting approach you got here...didn't expect that heh. Wish it was developed more though.

ProjectSpam - Dreamhorse (Toxic Seahorse vs. Spike Rosered)

Another interesting approach here - wish I saw more here too!

Amphibious - Hot Slice of Beast (Slash Beast vs. Blaze Heatnix)

Gario - Race the Phoenix (Blaze Heatnix vs. Slash Beast)

My favorite song of this round - great job by Gario here!

pixelwave - Breaking the Ice (Armored Armadillo vs. Chill Penguin)

Raise that volume! Way too faint.

Sir_NutS - Sense, Plan, and Act (Chill Penguin vs. Armored Armadillo)

Metal Man - Dephased Dissonance (Flame Mammoth vs. Crush Crawfish)

Volume is too low here too - gotta raise the overall volume! Kinda think that the two themes could have been melded better in the arrangement. Like the drum action, although they sound mechanical, especially that kick.

SilvernixSP - MASS Production of Sharp Scissors (Crush Crawfish vs. Flame Mammoth)

Drums need some work here. Soundscape is a little on the thin side too. Some areas sound too discrete with all of the instrumentation, needed some more humanization treatment.

TheRexAsaurous - Electric Storm (Storm Eagle vs. Spark Mandrill)

Edited September 17, 2012 by Bahamut

[Phonetic Hero]

first ever double post. I am a pathetic human being.

IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT idiot

[Theory of N]

Go for it.

Ectogemia - I love that vintage feeling from the crackliness. When the super fast drums come in at 0:38, I'm super disoriented. I don't know what it is, I've heard that beat plenty of times before but something about it in this context confuses me. I think maybe the rhythmic figure in the bass should be slightly less legato to help with time? Drums could use a bit more humanization as well. Or balance. Something about it sounds very mechanical. 1:19 - best part of the song in my opinion. Love the contrast and the sexy smooth keyboard. Is that actual recorded guitar or a distorted synth? If that's guitar, it's pretty impressive lol.

As far as arrangement goes, it kind of just...went. Meaning like the intro and beginning was made and then you moved on to the next section. As soon as that was made, you moved on to the NEXT section, etc. It doesn't feel very organized to me. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. The ideas and source usage were awesome, for sure. The nightmare carnival type theme is pretty kickass. As a whole, though, I couldn't really get it to feel cohesive.

This might seem harsh or whatnot and maybe I analyzed this a bit more than other tracks because you're my opponent, but this critique is in no way biased and I would expect the same from you anyway. Good luck, man!

[Yami]

Yami - Air Cooled Magma Flow (Magma Dragoon vs. Storm Owl)

Volume is on the low side - that lead mid-low synth sounds weird - feels like it needs some more treatment. When the Magma Dragoon synth comes in, it stands out. Honestly, it seems like this is a rough rough draft overall, so it's hard to really comment on it.

I've done this in a few hours on Saturday, I couldn't do anything cohesive before, I only sent it in to have sent something in, even if I will lose with that

[Ivan Hakštok]

Ivan Hakstok - Infrared Ultrasonic (Storm Owl vs. Magma Dragoon)

Guitars sound a little rough here - could use a better take for the lead. Fattening up the sound with a wall with two guitar tracks for each one, panned hard to the left & right each, would help give them more power. Track is also rough overall.

Actually I did double-track the rhythm guitars, but yeah, they still sound buried in some parts. About the lead, I was a bit lazy so I didn't do too many takes, usually I take 50+ to get a decent lead xD

[Unimaginative]

Gonna say something potentially blasphemous here: I'm not a fan of either Slash Beast or Blaze Heatnix's themes.

That being said, serious congratulations to Gario and Amphibious for making two really awesome pieces of music out of those themes!

[ectogemia]

Ectogemia - I love that vintage feeling from the crackliness. When the super fast drums come in at 0:38, I'm super disoriented. I don't know what it is, I've heard that beat plenty of times before but something about it in this context confuses me. I think maybe the rhythmic figure in the bass should be slightly less legato to help with time? Drums could use a bit more humanization as well. Or balance. Something about it sounds very mechanical. 1:19 - best part of the song in my opinion. Love the contrast and the sexy smooth keyboard. Is that actual recorded guitar or a distorted synth? If that's guitar, it's pretty impressive lol.

As far as arrangement goes, it kind of just...went. Meaning like the intro and beginning was made and then you moved on to the next section. As soon as that was made, you moved on to the NEXT section, etc. It doesn't feel very organized to me. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. The ideas and source usage were awesome, for sure. The nightmare carnival type theme is pretty kickass. As a whole, though, I couldn't really get it to feel cohesive.

This might seem harsh or whatnot and maybe I analyzed this a bit more than other tracks because you're my opponent, but this critique is in no way biased and I would expect the same from you anyway. Good luck, man!

Pretty much the same crits I have of my track as well, really.

I'm not a strong arranger. I don't have a good grasp of song structure, probably because I spend way too much time listening to prog and jazz jams and improvising when I play music myself, so I just kind of roll with ideas and that's that. I think I make it work, though, and Adhesive_boy is a huge inspiration of mine, and she has a similar arrangement style.

The drums are mechanical in the metal section because I just layered some one-shot samples. I think with drums that fast, it's necessary to use some sort of realistic kit with velocity mapping, and I have EZdrummer or whatever it's called. Probably should have used it, but meh, it was a busy week. No time.

[SilvernixSP]

SilvernixSP (MASS Production of Sharp Scissors) - The slightly out of time stuff leaning on the backside of the beat in the beginning is cool for adding an organic feeling, though variation would make it feel more human. I can dig the blacksmith-pounding-to-make-scissors idea though, cool stuff. Man, I'm not even sure this thing HAS a tonal center. Or maybe it just has 12 The minimal soundscape giving way to a more aggressive soundscape is a cool idea, but you completely covered up your snare and bass with other sounds. The cymbals and hats are super loud too. Work with the panning of your instruments as well as stereo separation to clear up the center of your mix. I'm gonna suggust the WIP forum again, I'm sure lots of people will be willing to help you improve this one quite a bit

That's some stuff I never think about, I diffitively going to look over this.

SilvernixSP - bass is incredibly overpowering. The part that comes in at 0:40 is off tonally and rhythmically. More rhythmic splicing at 0:40. The way this is right now, The biggest thing I could tell you would be to EQ out some frequencies. Honestly, if you're not used to doing that, taking any frequencies out would help the mix I think. Make some room for a bg pad or something. You'd be surprised at how far that can take you.

Really intereseting feedback, I'm gonna check for this when I will be back at home. That should explain a lot of why at some point, my music was not sounding the same from when I start, was wondering why.

SilvernixSP - MASS Production of Sharp Scissors (Crush Crawfish vs. Flame Mammoth)

Drums need some work here. Soundscape is a little on the thin side too. Some areas sound too discrete with all of the instrumentation, needed some more humanization treatment.

Oh! really, I never think to have a problem with my drums

[jnWake]

I'll post "detailed" feedback on the songs tomorrow, but on first listen most are very cool!

I especially loved Theory of N's take on Sting Chameleon, so funky! Also Metal Man's song was pretty nice.

Hope the people that did reviews of the other tracks before mine was included in the .ZIP review mine

[MindWanderer]

Lots of badass pieces this week that could use some polish. I'm really excited about the potential for some of the newer remixers getting some production chops to a point where their awesome ideas can really shine. Hakstock, jnWake, Trism, ProjectSpam, Metal Man, and TheRexAsaurous all fall squarely into this category.

[Theory of N]

jnWake - Dude, the beginning of this is sexy as hell. I think the melody at 1:25 could be brought out a bit more. It's kind of drowning in rhythm guitar. For that matter, the lead at 1:50 could be brought out a tiny bit more too. Both might benefit from some cleaning up in the lower end parts (bass/rhythm guitar. Mostly bass). Again, more sex in that EPiano. Reminds me of Bomberman Hero <3. I definitely like this, dude. Please work this up. Also, nice wordplay in your title. Forever...Infinity...clever.

[SuperiorX]

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS COMMENTS FROM ME!!!!!!!!

Yami - I'm really digging the minimalist & atmospheric sound you have going here. It's giving me vibes of the original Unreal soundtrack. The bass & pads have a nice combination. I think they serve as a nice base, but I kept feeling like a few more instruments should've been introduced to fill out the song as it went on. A little confused on the complete lack of drums, some minimalist percussion would've been great. Yikes wrong note at 2:15!! Nice start, I would love to see this fleshed out a bit more.

Hakstock - Really cool bass pad (whatever that is?) in the intro, it has a great sound to it. Your guitar work from the SZRC really impressed me, and it has done so again here Nice face-melting guitar solo, great job blending the themes together here too. Not a lot to comment on, I really enjoyed it!

Zerothemaster - Yeah you're definitely making improvement from the last I heard from you in the WCRG. Nice job! That background instrument in the intro is mixed a little loudly, but eh. Cool instrument at 1:00, but like others said, that fall-up on each note gets a little old after the first couple times. It's a cool effect, and I know you said you didn't know how to control the instrument. You might want to check your VST, it might have a midi controller trigger for the release of the instrument (fall-up vs. sustain vs. cut-off, etc.), which is what you'll want to take a look at to stop it from doing that. Song kinda meanders inbetween parts, could've worked on transitions a bit more. Huge improvement over some of your other stuff tho, keep it up!

jnWake - Never heard anything from you before, so this was a treat! Love the piano intro. I'm a sucker for piano intros. Cool little synth interlude to... more piano! And some stringy/harp (?). Really cool soundscape, I love how everything fits together. And now some guitar. Really digging this vibe. 1:28 - 1:50 felt a little forced, I know it was a theme transition, but it felt like it could've been a bit smoother. Cool synth solo at 1:50. Oh shit now some electric piano at 2:22, nice change of pace there. Synth guitar at 2:45 is pretty cool too. Nice theme transitions there at the end too. Really enjoyable piece overall. I dig it.

Theory of N - damn sir that intro is nice. And that funky groove at 0:20. Yes Please. Really nice job on those 2 lead instruments, I love the groove and personalization you added to the melody lines. Awesome instrumentation, everything just fits together so damn smooth. Awesome time signature mixups too. Synth breakdown solo at the end is just absolutely killer. I really got nothing else to say, I'm just going to keep gushing about how much I love this song. This is the type of music I wish and I try to make, but fail at doing so . Best song of the compo for me so far.

ectogemia - Dammit this is my second favorite song of the round. WHY DO YOU AND THEORY OF N HAVE TO FACE OFF Awesome intro... those distorted crackly sounds could've been annoying in other cases, but I think they fit the atmosphere you were going for here perfectly. Oh whoa sweet arp things at 0:30, dig that. Not feeling the drums at 0:40 - 1:02: the velocities feel too static and just loud overall. I think a punchier sample with a quicker release would've been nicer. I also think the strings could be a bit beefier too. They sound great, but a bit heavy on the high-end, some lower strings would help fill out that sound and give it more of the "epic" feel I think you were going for. Nice chill-out at 1:03. And oh damn 1:20 is just awesome. Sweet synth guitar shenanigans at 2:10ish. There are those drums again at 2:37 . 2:50 is some amazing synth solo wankery, love it!! Totally awesome song overall, and I wish you both could move on! Nice job dude!!

Trism - ohmygod I have no idea what is going on here. Awesome guitar shredding tho

ProjectSpam - cool intro there. Agree with what pH said below, harsh in the mid-highs and that piano is panned way far to the right. Definitely some cool ideas here (especially the 1:15 section), just needs a bit more direction with the execution and some added polish.

Amphibious - Smooth guitar, bass progressions, and buildup. All pretty awesome. Your mixes always have such a crisp & clean feel to them, love it! The arrangement feels a little incomplete (understand below that you didn't have a lot of time ), like everything sounds great, but it feels like there should be more. Really great enjoyable song tho, I hope you choose to expand on it sometime in the future tho.

Gario - Nice theme integration here. Cool chip elements and nice lead work (although the instrument sounds just a little harsh to me in the high-end). Damn that pitch slide on the chip at 2:38 was sweet. Pretty typical Gario stuff here, but nothing wrong with that, I really enjoyed it! Cool!

pixelwave - Sounds really quiet compared to the other songs. The dirty bass sounds almost a little too abrasive sometimes. And that synth lead is sweet, but it feels buried behind the dirty bass, bring it out! I know you can do way better based off the awesome stuff you made in the GRMRB 2011, so I'll chalk this one up to the a time-constrained week. I really enjoyed the arrangement and the song overall, just feels like it needs a little more polish!

Sir_NutS - OHMYGOD MY EARS WHY SOOOOOO LOUD?!!?!!?!!?!!?! especially right after hearing pixelwave's super quiet song. This arrangement is weird as hell, but I dig it. My ears bled at 0:40. That lead at 0:59 really kinda muddies everything up, cool dubby base there too. And cool melody line. Breakdown at 1:23 is my fav part. Really cool song overall, just sounds like you needed to EQ, balance, and polish this thing up.

Metal Man - Really dug your stuff off Maverick Rising, so I was looking forward to your entry. Sweet guitar work all-around, no complaints there. Mixing sounds a bit muddy and quiet, but I understand you didn't have the chance to properly mix before subbing. Arrangement feels a little like a medley, not a lot of blending. Nice job though, your guitar and percussion skills are quite impressive.

SilvernixSP - intro felt a little off-time, but it resolved itself quickly. Like others have said, the tones are kinda all over the place here. Some neat instrumentation choices, I dig the bass and that lead at 1:15 overall. Interesting song nontheless, I definitely hear some improvement here too over your GRMRB song last year. Keep it up!

TheRexAsaurous - That bass in the intro is super-awesome cool! Arps at 0:30 feel a little harsh in the high-end. This has a really chaotic feel to it, dig it. A little too much reverb on that trance pad at 0:40 - 0:55. Cool half-time breakdown section at 1:20. Nice blending of the themes too. This one definitely has some potential for a lot more. Nice job building off your songs from the SZRC, I'm interested in hearing how you continue to improve & progress, your stuff definitely has promise!

Great job everyone! Sorry my comments kinda got shorter toward the end, I was getting tired hah. I'm glad the Zero bracket showed up! The entire X Bracket needs to bring it this week now.

Edited September 18, 2012 by SuperiorX

[shadow24]

Darke, I have a very important question that could potentially turn up during the next maverick remixathon. What if two people choose Bubble Crab and Duff McWhalen (Tidal Whale) and they face off against each other? I know the odds are low but I think it would be a problem. The X5 song is a remix of the X2 song. Is it ok for both songs to essentially be identical?

Ok, Thanks for clearing it up

On a side note I'm code naming Theory of N's piece "Evasive Effervescence" Too many bubble bathing names already

Edited September 18, 2012 by shadow24
Darke answered question

[DarkeSword]

Those songs are always treated as the same during the draft. It's impossible for both of those songs to be in the competition at the same time.

[Theory of N]

Man, you guys need to work on your naming when you're mixing something with "bubble" in the name...

On a side note I'm code naming Theory of N's piece "Evasive Effervescence" Too many bubble bathing names already

I figured it was more tasteful than "Sting Chameleon Will Destroy Bubble Crab's Entire Being and Use His Very Essence as a Cheap Bathroom Product".

Edited September 18, 2012 by Theory of N

[BlackPanther]

Man, I will say that this Frost Walrus theme is starting to grow on me and I've been totally into these slower moody interpretations lately @_@, they're also rather conservative too .

Edited September 18, 2012 by BlackPanther

[rnn]

Deciding between Gario's and Amphibious' mix is like deciding who devised a better recipe combining Strawberry Nesquik and cream of mushroom. The results should be disgusting, but they're actually really nice...damn.

[ad.mixx]

I know the week only just begun... but the chances of actually getting in a song are looking slimmer and slimmer. Last week was supposed to be my busy week, didn't expect this one to be so busy too.

[Troyificus]

Deciding between Gario's and Amphibious' mix is like deciding who devised a better recipe combining Strawberry Nesquik and cream of mushroom. The results should be disgusting, but they're actually really nice...damn.

Have you actually tried that? Because it sounds like the most wrong thing ever.

[MindWanderer]

Have you actually tried that? Because it sounds like the most wrong thing ever.

Actually, I would bet it would work. Both are in a dairy base, and both fungi and fruit can be paired with a variety of things effectively (both can be used as sauces on red or white meat, for instance). You'd want to dilute both of them, but I wouldn't knock it until I tried it.